Theopolis Logo

Writing

Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

See all
trnava-university-beeyeib-am8-unsplash
Biblical Horizons

Puritans v. Reformed Worship: (Part Two of a Book Chapter Review)

Continuing through The Worship of the English Puritans by Horton Davies: The author gives some of his own appraisals rather than immediately quoting Durel, even though that is how he began his chapter. In Davies’ opinion, while the Puritans would invoke their own interpretation of Scripture in order to condemn,…

by Mark HorneFebruary 9, 2008
kelly-sikkema-gpoh17dxqdm-unsplash
Ephesians

Luther Should Have Inserted “Alone” a Second Time in Romans

What follows are from a couple of posts on my blog. I hoped to do a series. If I do follow up, I will probably want to do it here on the BH blog rather than my own. Feedback welcome: It is no secret that some have been scathingly critical…

by Mark HorneFebruary 9, 2008
jim-jordan-teaching-2
Baptism

Jesus’ Baptism and ours

Jeremy Sexton wrote this in an earlier line of discussion: “Along those lines, I think what we most often miss in our theology of baptism (though Calvin didn’t miss this) is that Christian baptism — if it “is” anything that came before — is Jesus’ water baptism. In our baptism,…

by James B. JordanFebruary 8, 2008
sixteen-miles-out-d40gdcd_-he-unsplash
Numbers

Israel was not (all of) the Church

Jeff pointed out that baptism is not Christian circumcision . Looking at the comments, I think it might be helpful to point out that Israel was not the Church . In the new creation, the idea of an “unbaptized Christian” is either very temporary or an anomaly. Those who came…

by Mark HorneFebruary 6, 2008
aaron-burden-h8s0pf2rcqs-unsplash
Parables

Parables, Part I

Once a upon a time, one Sunday morning, a pastor mounted his pulpit for the sermon and said the following: A troubled young man walked into a downtown high-rise building. As he approached the directory on the wall, he took out a small booklet and looked back and forth from…

by Jeff MeyersFebruary 5, 2008
sixteen-miles-out-al48tflf4e8-unsplash
Exodus

What is a Prophet? (Friendship and Justification)

If you are, say, leading a Bible study in Genesis, you might notice that right after the covenant is renewed and circumcision is established (ch 17) that we see Abraham eating and drinking with God (ch 18). After that meal, God makes a point of saying the he should share…

by Mark HorneFebruary 3, 2008

Showing page 216 of 309

See all

Showing page 8 of 43

See all

Communicative Piety

At the center of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches about three duties of Jewish piety – alms, prayer, and fasting. Regarding the last, He says, “when you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites, for they render their faces unrecognizable in order to be…

February 8, 2016

Nevin Lectures, 2016

This Friday and Saturday, the Theopolis Institute will host the third annual Nevin Lecture series. The Nevin Lectures are an exercise in what Paul Murray calls “receptive ecumenism.” Each year, Theopolis invites a theologian, pastor, or thinker from outside our Protestant Reformed tradition to lecture about what divides us. We…

February 8, 2016

Kings and Commanders

Revelation has several lists of social classes. The first is given when the Lamb opens the sixth seal and the world starts coming apart at the seams (6:12-17). There is another when the land beast imposes his mark on every class of society (13:16). The last comes after the Rider…

February 5, 2016

Esther's Exodus

Esther is a dramatic story of God's rescue of the Jews, His clever inversion of Haman's plot, the courage of Esther. It is also an exodus story. Haman the Agagite is a Pharaoh who wants to wipe out all the Jews. Ahasuerus, fortunately, is an anti-Pharaoh who works to protect…

February 5, 2016

Protestants and Writing

A number of people have raised objections of different sorts to my posts on Protestants and writing. In the nature of the case, I'm not going to resolve these issues with a blog post or two, and it would be passing tedious to answer every criticism of every critic. The…

February 5, 2016

Exodus and Gospel

In a 1962 article in JBL , Houston Smith traces the connections between Exodus and the gospel of John, focusing attention on the parallels between the plagues (signs and wonders) performed in Egypt and Jesus' signs. There are not only parallels between individual plagues and Jesus' signs but, Smith argues,…

February 4, 2016

Showing page 324 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.